Artist Statement

I primarily work in watercolor.  My main reference point is the built environment and the abstracted compositions which are present. Resources for my work include aerial photography, maps and charts, and images of details I capture on my iPhone. It is important for me to see the evidence of my hand – emphasizing lines / marks.

My training as an architect directs me to measured, controlled compositions but watercolors confound that.  They are minimally forgiving and therefore exciting as a medium.  I like the risk, speed and serendipity inherent in layering pigments, watercolor pencils / sticks onto a moist surface.  The controlled uncontrolled bleed excites.

I am inspired by the work of both architects and artists including Alvar Aalto, Santiago Calatrava, Paul Cezanne, Amedee Ozenfant, Odilon Redon, Eero Saarinen, and Charles Sheeler as well as the author Wallace Stegner whose novels capture the vastness of the West.

Education / Bio

I was born in the West, raised in the Midwest, schooled in the East before returning to the West for college at Stanford (BA in Architectural History) and later graduate school at UC Berkeley (Master of Architecture).  I subsequently attended CCAC for a mid-career BFA in painting and drawing.

Instructors who have been significant influences include Matt Kahn (Stanford), Richard Gayton and Larry McClary (both from CCAC) and Pablo Villicana Lara (Merritt College).

My wife and I live in Sonoma County after raising four children in Berkeley.  We have nine grandchildren.  I try to spend as much time as possible in my studio overlooking the Mayacamas.